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Josh's Blind Buys: Watching The Unseen Collection (1 Viewer)

RMajidi

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Oh, yes, and it looks and sounds GREAT! (Cinematography by Conrad Hall, direction by Richard Brooks, music by Maurice Jarre).

It's not the cheapest at the moment ($13 on Amazon), but worth every penny and then some. Just look at that cast! I can't echo Robert enough, this is an all-time, he-manly classic, with dialogue that just crackles (and has a final line that's one for the ages).

Agreed. IMO a great film from any angle you wish to dissect it, and a magnificent Blu-ray to do it justice.
 

RMajidi

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My absolute favorite early '70s Western is the Great Ulzana's Raid ('72) with Burt Lancaster, Bruce Davison and Richard Jaeckel...available as a decent Universal Vault DVD MOD...wish that was on blu-ray...Ulzana's Raid is among my absolute favorite Burt Lancaster films, which says a lot about this stunning, brutal and beautiful film...

Thanks for the tip, Randall.

Ulzana's Raid is among a raft of great upcoming Blu-ray releases by Explosive Media in Germany - slated for a May release. I'll definitely pick it up now.

The Lawman BD is already winging its way to me, and Valdez is in my german shopping cart, soon to be coming! Criss Cross is due out on BD next month here in Oz. Good times for Burt Lancaster fans.
 
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Flashgear

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Thanks for the tip, Randall.

Ulzana's Raid is among a raft of great upcoming Blu-ray releases by Explosive Media in Germany - slated for a May release. I'll definitely pick it up now.

The Lawman BD is already winging its way to me, and Valdez is in my german shopping cart, soon to be coming! Criss Cross is due out on BD next month here in Oz. Good times for Burt Lancaster fans.

Thanks for that info regarding the forthcoming Explosive Media blu release of Ulzana's Raid, Ramin...I have a region free player, so I'll jump on that and not wait for a region A release...it is an important film to me...it should look great in HD, the DVD is already very good...beautiful Nogales and Coronado scenery...one of the Great Burt Lancaster films with an ending you won't soon forget...all the hallmarks of Great Robert Aldrich action cinematography and riveting camera shots are evident in the final action sequences...terrific over the shoulder camera framing of charging Apaches, shot from Burt's low angle POV under a wagon for cover...a terrific confrontation between Joaquin Martinez (Ulzana) and Jorge Luke (Ke-Ni-Tay) that is unforgettable...as I say, a film that Burt Lancaster would make about the Apache is by essence and soul, sympathetic to the Apache...but the screenplay doesn't flinch in depicting their often unspeakable cruelty either...nor the ruthless and murderous nature of the U.S. cavalry's punitive indian war...Bruce Davison does play a conflicted and honor bound young officer who wants to hold fast to the rules of war..compelling dialogue in the screenplay between the leads...I think it's also one of De Vol's best soundtracks...as good as his great music for Flight of the Phoenix...
 
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Josh Steinberg

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#22 - The Green Berets (1968)
Viewed on: February 12th, 2017
Viewing Format: Blu-ray (Warner)

The Green Berets was sort of the throw-in purchase for me. Last year I wanted to pick up the Searchers and found that it was $10 on its own, or $8 in a set with The Cowboys and The Green Berets. I wasn't filled with a pressing need to see this movie, but I also felt that if I didn't watch it now, it might sit on the shelf for several more years. When I couldn't figure out exactly what I was in the mood for last night, I decided to go with this to finish out the set.

Co-directed by and starring John Wayne, The Green Berets is a war movie set at the beginning of the Vietnam conflict. Over the years, the film has gained a reputation for being pro-war at a time when most pop culture was going in the opposite direction, but I found the movie to be more pro-Special Forces than being specifically pro-Vietnam. Wayne plays a colonial who's being sent to lead a unit in Vietnam; David Janssen is a reporter who is initially skeptical of the endeavor but who becomes convinced that the war is necessary. Look out for George Takei in a supporting role as a South Vietnamese commander working with the U.S. efforts. (I always wondered what Mr. Sulu was doing while absent from the bridge at the beginning of Star Trek's second season.) Wayne and his troops face many obstacles and attacks in the course of serving.

While I'm glad I finally saw The Green Berets, I didn't really care for it. Not because of its view on the war, but rather, because it seemed to be a surprisingly poorly made film. There are specific scenes, performances, sequences that stand out, but the movie as a whole felt bloated and inert to me. After finishing the movie, I looked up some reviews from its original release, and was a little surprised to see how merciless they were. I found it more of a dull movie than a dreadful one, which apparently puts me ahead of the critical consensus.

The transfer from Warner was generally fine. The windowboxed opening credits give away that it's an older transfer, but it was still a very clean one. Lossless mono audio was provided via Dolby TrueHD, and English subtitles were available. The disc also contains a vintage making-of featurette and an original trailer, both presented in SD. It's not a spectacular disc but it more than gets the job done.

While I'm glad to have finally seen The Green Berets, I don't think it's a film I'll need to revisit.
 

Tino

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Ever time I hear of The Green Berets I recall it being comically criticized for having the sun set in the east at the end. Is that true?
 

Doug Wallen

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Like you Josh, I only have this as part of that Triple feature set. This was a movie I had seen in pan/scan from the television showings. I did not remember it fondly and it has not aged well. The only thing I remember is a very wet and muddy (???) Sulu. I seem to remember that is the only reason I watched.

I viewed this shortly after my purchase as I was on a Fugitive binge and wanted to see David Janssen in something else. Not the right reason to watch. I doubt I will ever view this one again.
 
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Tino

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From IMDb.

"This film is famous (or infamous) for its "sun setting in the east" final scene, due to the fact that "Vietnam has no west coast" and therefore if the sun is sinking into the ocean, it "must" be setting in the east. However, there are plenty of places in Vietnam (the eastern peninsula of Cam Ranh Bay, the southeastern shore of Ga Cà Ná, Hái Long, Vung Tau, and dozens of places just south of Saigon) where one can stand on the shore and watch the sun sink into the sea, because bays and peninsulas have both eastern and western shores. Without further evidence of an error, nothing in the film itself states clearly that the characters are standing facing eastward toward the ocean."
 

Josh Steinberg

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Speaking of combo packs, I had wanted to revisit All The President's Men, and noticed that the combo with 3 Days Of The Condor was only $6.50 at Amazon - the standalone version of All The President's Men, which includes the exact same BD disc, was more. I've seen All The President's Men but I don't think I've seen 3 Days Of The Condor, so that will be an eventual watch here at some point. Not a high priority at this moment but it's always nice to get a bonus film for free, especially on Blu-ray.

It seems that the reason for these discounts may be that the Warner-Paramount distribution may be winding down. I've noticed that a lot of the double and triple feature combos which have included both Warner and Paramount titles are now out of print, but that a lot of "fulfilled by Amazon" merchants have them onsale at single digit prices. I just got a set with Disclosure and Fatal Attraction for $5 (less than what either costs on its own), and I picked up Ben-Hur with The Ten Commandments for about $7 maybe a year ago. These might be starting to disappear, so for anyone potentially interested in titles that they've put in combos, I highly recommend taking a peek at what's available before they're gone.
 

Josh Steinberg

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From IMDb.

"This film is famous (or infamous) for its "sun setting in the east" final scene, due to the fact that "Vietnam has no west coast" and therefore if the sun is sinking into the ocean, it "must" be setting in the east. However, there are plenty of places in Vietnam (the eastern peninsula of Cam Ranh Bay, the southeastern shore of Ga Cà Ná, Hái Long, Vung Tau, and dozens of places just south of Saigon) where one can stand on the shore and watch the sun sink into the sea, because bays and peninsulas have both eastern and western shores. Without further evidence of an error, nothing in the film itself states clearly that the characters are standing facing eastward toward the ocean."

There was nothing about the ending of the movie that registered as "wrong" to me. The last scene was actually one of the more poignant moments in the film for me. It was one of those things where the movie had such a well done last scene that I momentarily forgot that I hadn't enjoyed the previous 2+ hours. This is why I try to sleep on a movie before writing it up, if I had started writing the moment the movie ended, I probably would have been too nice.
 

Jeff Flugel

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Ever time I hear of The Green Berets I recall it being comically criticized for having the sun set in the east at the end. Is that true?

Yes, it's true, but this is one of those cases where, if the film was good enough, it wouldn't really matter where the sun sets. However, I have to side with Josh on this one. THE GREEN BERETS has some good moments, and I don't think it deserves its bad reputation, but overall, it's just not a very interesting or well-made film. It pains me to say this, as a big John Wayne fan. This film was savaged by critics mainly for its politics, but to me, its political message is not the problem, other than an over-reliance on speechifying. No, it's main problem is in its listless script and leaden direction. It does pick up somewhat in the final third, when Wayne and his men are on their commando mission, and we get some fairly tense action stuff, but by then it's a case of too little, too late. I also find Jim Hutton a likeable sidekick for Wayne, and it's kind of neat to see George Takei (missing a chunk of STAR TREK season two to finish BERETS).
 

Nelson Au

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Interesting discussion about The Green Berets. I saw this on TV decades ago and to see George Takei in it. Plus I figured it must be a good action movie with Wayne in it.

My impression is it's a very anti-war film. Not based on my viewing as I was too young to get it. But based on what a had read or heard of it. I really remember the titles and the main title track. But it was for me very long and not that engaging.

I'm not big on the western genre, but you guys have me curious to check out some of the titles here. Plus the John Wayne set so I might revisit The Green Berets as well.

They must have waited for Takei's hair to grow out before he resumed filming on Star Trek. So Walter Koenig got more screen time.
 

Josh Steinberg

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This film was savaged by critics mainly for its politics, but to me, its political message is not the problem

I agree completely. From having heard about the film for years before I saw it, I was expecting it to be more pro-war and pro-Vietnam than it actually was. In an odd sort of way, the film doesn't really take much of a position on the war itself; the movie advocates for the special forces units but not really the mission. But I think by portraying the special forces as simply outstanding, the characters come across as more cardboard and two dimensional. But if they had made the characters richer, they probably would have then had to take more of a side on the war, and I think they were trying to avoid that.

My impression is it's a very anti-war film.

I actually had the opposite reaction to it - I didn't see it as an anti-war film. I think the film's POV is that war is terrible, and that no one wants war, but we're always going to have it, so we're going to rise to that challenge, accept that reality, and come out on top no matter what the cost. It doesn't do the rah-rah "war is great!" cheerleading that some other movies have done, but I don't think it's really against war either.

Now I have to get The Green Berets.

YMMV, but I wouldn't recommend it as a blind buy - if you didn't have The Cowboys and The Searchers already, I'd say get that three pack (which is now up to $12 on Amazon, but still a steal when you consider that GB on its own is $10), but I think you've already got those. You can rent it on Vudu for $4, I think that's probably the way to go on this one. The presentation on the disc wasn't amazing enough to make it a must-see on the technical merits, and there was very little by bonus features as well. Of course, now that I've said all that, you'll probably end up loving the movie :)
 

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